How social issues affect market engagement and livelihoods strategies - among the rural poor in Zimbabwe

The purpose of this rapid desk-based study is to inform the development of detailed design work for two components of the new Livelihoods and Food Security Programme being supported by UK's Depetment for Intrnational Development (DFID) Zimbabwe. The work is specifically intended to help DFID ensure that full consideration is given to relevant gender and social inclusion issues from the beginning of the programme implementation process; and to inform the terms of reference and work programme for the monitoring, evaluation and research unit.

This part of the study has involved a review of social science literature relating specifically to Zimbabwe. A thorough internet search has been carried out of academic literature and grey sources. However, it should be noted that, given the time available for this study (five days), it has not been possible to access sources that are only available in hard copy in Zimbabwe, for example certain Government or NGO reports.

The social appraisal section and gender analysis included in the Livelihoods and Food Security Business Case has been used as the starting point for this work. The available social science literature largely supports the gender analysis in the Business Case and provides some rich contextual detail enabling further implications for programming to be
drawn out. It also provides useful cross-cutting social analysis of the agricultural sector, as well as analysis of HIV/AIDS and livelihoods issues. The available literature on certain other dimensions of social exclusion, in particular ageing issues and disability is, however, much
more limited.